The UN Human Development Index (HDI)



The UN Human Development Index (HDI)

The UN Human Development Index (HDI) measures poverty, literacy, education, life expectancy, and other factors. It is a standard means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. The index was developed in 1990 by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, and has been used since 1993 by the United Nations Development Programme in its annual report.

The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:

A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth.

Knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weight) and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weight).

A decent standard of living, as measured by GDP per capita (PPP USD).

Each year, countries are ranked according to these measures. Those high on the list often brag about it, as a means of attracting talented migrants (economically, individual capital) or discouraging potential emigrants from leaving.

Top thirty countries

HDI in differents countries of world, around 2005

(Note the similarity between this list and that of developed countries.)

|[pic] Norway |[pic] Switzerland |[pic] Italy |

|[pic] Sweden |[pic] United Kingdom |[pic] Israel |

|[pic] Australia |[pic] Finland |[pic] Hong Kong SAR (PRC) |

|[pic] Canada |[pic] Austria |[pic] Greece |

|[pic] Netherlands |[pic] Luxembourg |[pic] Singapore |

|[pic] Belgium |[pic] France |[pic] Portugal |

|[pic] Iceland |[pic] Denmark |[pic] Slovenia |

|[pic] United States |[pic] New Zealand |[pic] South Korea |

|[pic] Japan |[pic] Germany |[pic] Barbados |

|[pic] Republic of Ireland |[pic] Spain |[pic] Cyprus |

|“Least Livable” Countries, 2004 |

|1. |Sierra Leone |

|Tanzania, U. Rep. of |

|HDI Rank : 162 |

BACK

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|1. Human development index |

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|Life expectancy at birth (years) (HDI), 2002 |

|43.5 |

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|Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and above) (HDI), 2002 |

|77.1 |

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|Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools (%), 2001/02 |

|31 1 |

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|GDP per capita (PPP US$) (HDI), 2002 |

|580 |

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|Life expectancy index |

|0.31 |

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|Education index |

|0.62 |

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|GDP index |

|0.29 |

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|Human development index (HDI) value, 2002 |

|0.407 |

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|GDP per capita (PPP US$) rank minus HDI rank |

|12 |

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| |Country |Description | |

| | | Definition: The human development index values in this table were calculated using a consistent | |

| | |methodology and consistent data series. They are not strictly comparable with those in earlier | |

| | |Human Development Reports. | |

| | | | |

|1. |Norway |0.942 | |

|2. |Sweden |0.941 | |

|3. |Canada |0.940 | |

|4. |Belgium |0.939 | |

|5. |Australia |0.939 | |

|6. |United States |0.939 | |

|7. |Iceland |0.936 | |

|8. |Netherlands |0.935 | |

|9. |Japan |0.933 | |

|10. |Finland |0.930 | |

|11. |Switzerland |0.928 | |

|12. |United Kingdom |0.928 | |

|13. |France |0.928 | |

|14. |Austria |0.926 | |

|15. |Denmark |0.926 | |

|16. |Germany |0.925 | |

|17. |Ireland |0.925 | |

|18. |Luxembourg |0.925 | |

|19. |New Zealand |0.917 | |

|20. |Italy |0.913 | |

|21. |Spain |0.913 | |

|22. |Israel |0.896 | |

|23. |Singapore |0.885 | |

|24. |Greece |0.885 | |

|25. |Cyprus |0.883 | |

|151. |Gambia, The |0.405 | |

|152. |Angola |0.403 | |

|153. |Rwanda |0.403 | |

|154. |Malawi |0.400 | |

|155. |Mali |0.386 | |

|156. |Central African |0.375 | |

| |Republic | | |

|157. |Chad |0.365 | |

|158. |Guinea-Bissau |0.349 | |

|159. |Ethiopia |0.327 | |

|160. |Burkina Faso |0.325 | |

|161. |Mozambique |0.322 | |

|162. |Burundi |0.313 | |

|163. |Niger |0.277 | |

|164. |Sierra Leone |0.275 | |

| |Weighted Average |0.69 | |

Source: Human Development Reports, United Nations 2002

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